As part of the risk-based approach to managing produced water, the OSPAR regulation now suggests chemical analysis and ecotoxicological testing of produced water (OIC 10/4/7).
Oil extraction generates produced water, which is a complex mixture of formation and injection water contaminated with oil, metals and various treatment chemicals.
The amount of produced water annually discarged into the North-East Atlantic has increased steadily over the years and produced water has become the main contributor to oil discharges from offshore operations.
According to the OSPAR Convention, the current legal guidance for the international cooperation on the protection of the marine environment of the North-East Atlantic, produced water from offshore platforms shall be sampled and analysed in future. This means that chemical analysis and ecotoxicological tests shall be performed in order to assess the potential impact of produced water on the marine environment.
DHI has many years of experience from previous studies with toxicity testing of produced water by use of sensitive marine organisms, e.g. Vibrio fisheri (Microtox®)ISO 11348-3, Skeletonema costatum ISO 10523, Acartia tonsa ISO 14669 and Crassostrea gigas BEQUALM protocol.
DHI has carried out the ecotoxicological testing programme for produced water from several offshore installations in the North Sea during 2010.
